Goodell to meet with Vilma, other players previously suspended in bounty scandal

Jonathan Vilma was on the sideline during the Saints' season-opening loss to the Redskins. (AP)

NEW ORLEANS -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and four players whose suspensions in connection with the bounty investigation were recently lifted by an appeals panel have agreed to new meetings on the matter.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Tuesday no specific dates have been set for the meetings. An attorney for Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma said his client hoped to meet with the commissioner by early next week.

The NFL Players Association, which is representing Saints defensive end Will Smith, Cleveland linebacker Scott Fujita and free-agent defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove, did not immediately comment.

Goodell is reconsidering whether to hand down revised suspensions for the four players who had been punished in an alleged pay-for-pain pool offering cash bonuses for hits that injured opponents.

Ginsberg said Vilma's meeting would not be considered a hearing, but would be more akin to preliminary fact-finding meetings that occur at the outset of the disciplinary process outlined by the NFL's collective bargaining agreement.

"We expect to meet with commissioner Goodell and hopefully have a full, honest exchange of information and come to a just resolution," Ginsberg said.

He was not sure whether Vilma would meet with Goodell individually or at the same time as the other three players represented by the NFLPA.

The three-member panel that lifted the four players' suspensions on Friday did not permanently void them or address the merits of the bounty probe. Rather, it asked Goodell to start the disciplinary process over after ruling it was unclear whether he followed proper procedures in disciplining the players the first time.

It found that it was not clear whether part of Goodell's punishment stemmed from the money the players were found to have received. The panel said punishment relating to financial violations of the league collective bargaining agreement must be heard by an arbitrator other than Goodell.

The panel also said Goodell can only serve as the arbitrator for punishments relating directly to some intent to injure opponents, which would be classified as conduct detrimental to the game.

Vilma and several current and former Saints teammates, as well as suspended assistant head coach Joe Vitt, have already testified in a related federal case that the Saints operated only a performance pool for big plays and that no one ever intended to injure an opposing player.

Their testimony conflicted with the NFL's earlier findings that specific bounties were place on high profile quarterbacks including Brett Favre and Kurt Warner in the 2009-10 playoffs.

Smith was able to return to action for the Saints' regular-season opener on Sunday, a 40-32 loss to the Washington Redskins. He was the only of the four reinstated players who took the field. Fujita sat out after not practicing the week leading up to Cleveland's opening 17-16 loss to Philadelphia. Hargrove is not with a team and Vilma is still working his way back from offseason left knee surgery.

The Saints have placed Vlima on the physically unable to perform list, meaning he cannot play at least through the first six games, even if he receives no new suspension.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

View the original article here

Roger Goodell says Saints bounty scandal proof will be made public

Posted: 06:52 PM ET May 22, 2012

By Ryan Wilson | NFL Blogger

Goodell says he is unconcerned about his popularity. (AP)

Earlier this month, New Orleans linebacker Jonathan Vilma was suspended for the 2012 season for his role in the Saints bounty scandal. Last week, Vilma's attorney filed a defamation lawsuit against NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

The complaint read, in part, that "Vilma seeks to recover damages for defamatory statements made by Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the National Football League. … Goodell, speaking publicly about certain Saints executives, coaches and players, in relation to purported efforts designed to injure opposing players, made public statements concerning Vilma which were false, defamatory and injurious to Vilma's professional and personal reputation."

At issue: the league hasn't released evidence showing that Saints players, coaches and front-office members were involved in the pay-for-performance allegations leveled against them in early March.

As I've said before..I NEVER PAID, NOR INTENDED TO PAY ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY,TO ANY PLAYER FOR INTENTIONALLY HURTING AN OPPONENT.

— Jonathan Vilma (@JonVilma51) May 17, 2012

On Tuesday at the league's spring meeting, Goodell said that the NFL plans to release to the public proof of wrongdoing by those already punished for their roles in the bounty scandal.

While the commissioner declined comment on Vilma's defamation lawsuit, he offered a "Yes, I do," in response to a question about whether he expected the evidence to be made public. Details via NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal:

Goodell pointed out that the league released facts in March and is going through the appeals process with the NFL Players Association. He indicated that the league won't release any more information publicly until the appeals and grievance processes are finished.

Goodell added that the NFLPA "expressly told the players not to cooperate in the bounty investigation. I invited them in and they decided not to do that," he said.

As the appeals and grievance process plays out, Goodell remains the target of criticism for players.

"You don't worry about a popularity contest," he said. "You can't. You can't make everyone happy on this."

Lessening the pain for the commissioner? Pulling down $20 million a year. And if all that money doesn't fill the void, there's always the draft (cue "Dust in the Wind").

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnNFL on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our Pick-6 Podcast and NFL newsletter. You can follow Ryan Wilson on Twitter here: @ryanwilson_07. Tags: Jonathan Vilma, Ryan Wilson, New Orleans Saints, NFL

View the original article here

Latest NFL concussion suit cites Saints' bounties scandal

ATLANTA -- The four former NFL players who sued the league on Monday in a state court in Atlanta could be leading a wave of new lawsuits that cite the New Orleans Saints' bounty system for hard hits as evidence that pro football didn't properly protect its players from concussions.

Legal experts and trial attorneys say they expect more complaints against the NFL to point to the Saints' scandal after the ex-players filed suit contending the bounty system was another example that the league "explicitly relied on violence" and neglected to educate players on the dangers of concussions.

The claims give the new lawsuit an "added vitality" if attorneys can use it to bolster the idea that there's activity in the sport that goes beyond the typical violence associated with pro football, said Paul Haagen, co-director of the Center for Sports Law and Policy at Duke University.

"It adds color" to the complaint, Haagen added. "And by raising it you hope to raise a general buzz in the public that this is an issue."

The NFL's investigation found that former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams offered thousands of dollars in cash payouts for violent hits over the past three seasons, including when the team won the Super Bowl. And while the four players named in the lawsuit don't claim to be victims of the scheme, they say it is indicative of a culture that has left them and other ex-players with debilitating conditions.

"There is nothing new or unique about what Gregg Williams said. Although the NFL has now punished Williams and the Saints, for almost its entire history the NFL glorified violent hits," said the complaint. "It encouraged its players to think of themselves as gladiators. But, along the way, the NFL failed to educate its players about the consequences of such a win-at-all costs mentality."

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said any allegation that the league intentionally sought to mislead players is without merit.

"It stands in contrast to the league's actions to better protect players and advance the science and medical understanding of the management and treatment of concussions," he said.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Myron Guyton, who played for the New York Giants and New England Patriots in the 1980s and 1990s; Lomas Brown, who played for five teams over a 17-year career that ended in 2002; Jessie Small, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Phoenix Cardinals and the Houston Oilers between 1989 and 1993; and Willie Whitehead, who played for the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints from 1995 to 2006.

Atlanta attorney and NFL agent Von DuBose filed the lawsuit on behalf of the four players and their wives. He said the men suffer from memory loss, headaches, depression and other symptoms characteristic of those with traumatic brain injuries. They are among more than 1,000 former NFL players suing the league, according to lawyers involved. The cases say not enough was done to inform players about the dangers of concussions in the past, and not enough is done to take care of them today.

"I've been hearing this stuff for years. And it instantly made sense when this concussion information started to come out," said DuBose. "The dots started to connect."

Gabe Feldman, a sports law professor at Tulane University, said the reference to the bounty system could help plaintiffs paint a picture of the sport as "not only violent but unnecessarily violent." Although he doubts the new claim will be a "game changer," he expects more lawsuits to cite the scandal.

"It certainly could be persuasive in the eyes of a jury," he said.

The complaint filed Monday goes far beyond targeting the bounty system. It also says the league encouraged players to view themselves as warriors and sold films that lionized the most brutal hits, such as the 1992 NFL Films production, The Best of Thunder and Destruction. And it seeks to force the league to better educate players on the dangers of traumatic head injuries during the crucial period immediately after the draft.

The league's investigation found that Williams offered off-the-books cash payments of $1,500 for "knockouts," in which an opposing player was knocked out of a game, or $1,000 for "cart-offs," in which an opponent needed help off the field. The league has said the bounty pool grew as large as $50,000, and that as many as 27 Saints defenders may have taken part.

The investigation led to the indefinite suspension of Williams, who had taken a position with the St. Louis Rams and has since apologized for running the system, and the season-long suspension of Saints coach Sean Payton, who was found to have initially lied about the existence of a bounty program and instructed his defensive assistants to do the same.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell last week rejected an appeal of Payton's season-long suspension.

Some legal analysts said claims from players who weren't involved in the bounty system may not survive a challenge from defense attorneys.

"Everyone knows, including anyone who's played in the NFL, that it's a violent game, said Matthew Mitten, the director of the National Sports Law Institute at Marquette University. "You didn't need the unfortunate circumstances of bounty-gate to tell us that."

But Bruce Hagen, an Atlanta attorney who has filed two lawsuits involving 33 different players, said the bounty system could play an important part in the lawsuits working their way through the courts.

"It shows that it's an institutionalized effort by management to go outside the bounds of the game as a way to motivate players even if it means intentionally having them injured," he said. "And that's wrong."

View the original article here